The second half opens with a ton of energy as the Dead take a fiery Promised Land into Bertha and right on to Greatest Story Ever Told. Don’t Ease Me In a few tunes later is another standout before the monumental end to the show in Dark Star> Truckin’> Morning Dew. The Dark Star meanders out of the gate, but the boys quickly find a path forward as Billy lays down a cymbal heavy subdued beat and Jerry noodles along through an ethereal space. Slowly, bit by bit, pieces are put in place and by a dozen minutes in, glittering sparkles are everywhere, breaking through the soft, shaded sumptuousness. From there, things purposefully come apart into a bewitching atonal bricolage that the Dead leisurely piece back together into Truckin’. The Truckin’ maintains some of the pensive reserve of the Dark Star, making for an almost reflective version and a perfect segue to Morning Dew. And while there are more stratospheric Dews out there, this one has its own special darkness, longing, and moodiness. Finally, after all this, Sugar Magnolia provides a welcome, joyous release to cap the evening.

This was the middle show of the Dead’s first stand at Nassau Coliseum as the band moved into ever bigger venues to house the ever-growing fan base. Besides upsetting those Heads who had grown used to seeing the band in more intimate venues, the new digs also brought with it another unpleasantness for the faithful: narcs. While drug arrests were nearly always a part of the scene, the Nassau cops took this to a whole new level as the Deadhead hordes ventured out to Long Island to see the boys. Undercover cops plagued the coliseum, arresting unsuspecting folks on the floor and making everyone more than a little paranoid.